1st wrist watch serviced

[Charette]

Hi all,

Please find below some before/after photos of the 1st wrist watch that I serviced. After taking an online course I serviced two dollar pocket watches, then a swiss wrist watch before using this watch as my first try.

I purchased this at the Aberfoyle Antique Market in Puslinch (outside Guelph), Ontario, not knowing much at the time. I knew that Birks was a Canadian jeweller, kind of like the Tiffany's of Canada. The crystal was spidered, assume watch was crushed down on at some point, but I had watched enough youtube videos at that point to know this could be replaced.

Taking the watch apart and googling the movement, I was surprised to see that it was a Russian Raketa 2609ha movement inside. With further googling, I could not find any reference to Birks ever using a raketa movement. I know they often used eterna swiss movements. So, I am not sure if this is a true birks watch or if the dial was replaced and I have been 'had'. The dial itself was in pristine condition - unsure of the chances of the dial feet of a new dial matching up to the movement. In any case, it is a nice watch still, I thought. The case is gold coated, 10 microns.

Lots of learning moments in working on this. At one point I thought I marked the dial slightly so I rubbed on it with rodico - learned it is a bad idea to do this on a matte dial. In the end result it is still hard to see unless looking from a specific angle with the light, but the area I rubbed is now shiny instead of matte.

This movement had balance shock settings similar in shape to incabloc. There were also tiny springs on the escapement with cap stones. I managed to break both of these when trying to remove them. I also lost one balance spring that jumped away into the ether. The same happened with a capstone, I think from the escapement. I went a bit overboard and ordered parts movements through etsy from three sellers. One lot arrived from France within 4 days - I am still waiting on the other two. I will have enough 2609ha parts now to open my own store. The watch ran well before service - while reassembling I saw the escape wheel had both pivots broken - I thought I was careful but I guess this happened somewhere along the way. Parts movements to the rescue again.

I may eventually change the band - this is the one that came with it and it is not too bad, I think.

Changing the crystal was also a learning experience. I ordered the size I measured for and one size up, as I learned online. I have a cheap crystal lift from amazon. It is useless and will not grip anything - tried on 4 different watches. To install the new crystal I made some little wood domes to fit my chinese back/crystal press. Not knowing how much pressure to use to bend the crystal diameter smaller, and also trying to force the larger crystal in, as I was sure it was the larger 31.1mm crystal that would fit, I snapped it in two. The smaller 30.8mm ended up being the winner so I was glad that I purchased both at the same time. I also got a feel for the pressure required, not as much as I thought.

Most of my kit has been purchased cheaply from aliexpress and amazon. I was hoping for a robur-style press for the crystal but the chinese have not copied this yet, hence my workaround above.

I was hung up on having the proper equipment for cleaning. I have a cheap ultrasonic cleaner but really wanted a 'spinner' watch cleaner. Vintage was still out of my price range as I did not want to spend so much without knowing I would stick with the hobby. I found inspiration on reddit for a diy watch cleaning machine and built one using a timer/direction controller, small dc motor and various jars and misc from the dollar store and a lab equipment stand. My cleaner was also diy based on the SDS for L&R solutions.

All in all, I am very pleased how this came out, for my first watch. My next project will be building a watch from parts using the eta6498 clone, Seagull ST3621.

 

[Kalanag]

Weel done! 

Can you post a picture of your diy cleaning machine please?

[grsnovi]

Congratulations!

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, Charette said:

Hi all,

Please find below some before/after photos of the 1st wrist watch that I serviced. After taking an online course I serviced two dollar pocket watches, then a swiss wrist watch before using this watch as my first try.

I purchased this at the Aberfoyle Antique Market in Puslinch (outside Guelph), Ontario, not knowing much at the time. I knew that Birks was a Canadian jeweller, kind of like the Tiffany's of Canada. The crystal was spidered, assume watch was crushed down on at some point, but I had watched enough youtube videos at that point to know this could be replaced.

Taking the watch apart and googling the movement, I was surprised to see that it was a Russian Raketa 2609ha movement inside. With further googling, I could not find any reference to Birks ever using a raketa movement. I know they often used eterna swiss movements. So, I am not sure if this is a true birks watch or if the dial was replaced and I have been 'had'. The dial itself was in pristine condition - unsure of the chances of the dial feet of a new dial matching up to the movement. In any case, it is a nice watch still, I thought. The case is gold coated, 10 microns.

Lots of learning moments in working on this. At one point I thought I marked the dial slightly so I rubbed on it with rodico - learned it is a bad idea to do this on a matte dial. In the end result it is still hard to see unless looking from a specific angle with the light, but the area I rubbed is now shiny instead of matte.

This movement had balance shock settings similar in shape to incabloc. There were also tiny springs on the escapement with cap stones. I managed to break both of these when trying to remove them. I also lost one balance spring that jumped away into the ether. The same happened with a capstone, I think from the escapement. I went a bit overboard and ordered parts movements through etsy from three sellers. One lot arrived from France within 4 days - I am still waiting on the other two. I will have enough 2609ha parts now to open my own store. The watch ran well before service - while reassembling I saw the escape wheel had both pivots broken - I thought I was careful but I guess this happened somewhere along the way. Parts movements to the rescue again.

I may eventually change the band - this is the one that came with it and it is not too bad, I think.

Changing the crystal was also a learning experience. I ordered the size I measured for and one size up, as I learned online. I have a cheap crystal lift from amazon. It is useless and will not grip anything - tried on 4 different watches. To install the new crystal I made some little wood domes to fit my chinese back/crystal press. Not knowing how much pressure to use to bend the crystal diameter smaller, and also trying to force the larger crystal in, as I was sure it was the larger 31.1mm crystal that would fit, I snapped it in two. The smaller 30.8mm ended up being the winner so I was glad that I purchased both at the same time. I also got a feel for the pressure required, not as much as I thought.

Most of my kit has been purchased cheaply from aliexpress and amazon. I was hoping for a robur-style press for the crystal but the chinese have not copied this yet, hence my workaround above.

I was hung up on having the proper equipment for cleaning. I have a cheap ultrasonic cleaner but really wanted a 'spinner' watch cleaner. Vintage was still out of my price range as I did not want to spend so much without knowing I would stick with the hobby. I found inspiration on reddit for a diy watch cleaning machine and built one using a timer/direction controller, small dc motor and various jars and misc from the dollar store and a lab equipment stand. My cleaner was also diy based on the SDS for L&R solutions.

All in all, I am very pleased how this came out, for my first watch. My next project will be building a watch from parts using the eta6498 clone, Seagull ST3621.

 

Very well done, you stuck with it and got it finished . Now lets see this diy cleaner of yours please,  we have a thread going that you can add to.  

[Charette]

8 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Very well done, you stuck with it and got it finished . Now lets see this diy cleaner of yours please,  we have a thread going that you can add to.  

Can you link the thread please? I will try to take photos tonight. 

[Neverenoughwatches]

9 minutes ago, Charette said:

Can you link the thread please? I will try to take photos tonight. 

No rush matey but here it is .

 

https://www.watchrepairtalk.com/topic/24066-diy-rotary-cleaning-machine/?do=getLastComment